“British intellectuals are united by their fondness for Continental holidays, the connoisseurship of wine and food, the knowledge of wild flowers and birds, acquaintanceship with the writings of Jane Austen, a knowing indulgence for the worthies of the English past, and appreciation for more leisurely epochs, doing one’s job  dutifully and reliably, the cultivation of personal relationships.”

Edward Shils, American sociologist, who taught at the London School of Economics   (quoted in  “Never Had it So Good”,  by Dominic Sandbrook)